EFCL November Board Meeting Notes

It's been very busy getting back into the swing of things as your Londonderry District B representative at the EFCL.

The EFCL November Board meeting was held on Nov. 14 and although the meeting's agenda seemed light the meeting went well on into the evening! 

Download the EFCL November Board Package here.

There are three significant initiatives I am excited about with enormous potential to enliven and enrich the community league movement in Edmonton:

The Winter Cities Council 

Isla Tanaka at the Winter Cities

presentation at the EFCL Leagues

Alive Conference in November.

I sit as an EFCL representative on the Winter Cities Council a hybrid council of the administration and City Council and the idea is quite simply to help us have more fun with winter as a city, as community leagues and as residents of the mostly northerly big city in North America. I also hosted a session by Susan Holdsworth, Winter Cities Coordinator, on Winter Cities at the EFCL Leagues Alive Conference. It was a big hit.

Jason Watt of McLeod at Leagues
Alive.

People from communities are very excited about the idea of upping our game significantly when it comes to winter festivals and the involvement of community leagues in innovative and engaging ideas to rock winter. I and the co-chair of the Winter Cities Life stream that is working on ideas like creating a guide to rocking winter based on best practices from around the world and the idea of combining the community leagues 50-60 winter carnivals with some of the bigger winter events to someday host a massive Edmonton Winter Festival, of which community events are a central component. A number of folks stepped forward to say they want to help. We are working on how to proceed now!

• Check out the WinterCity Strategy Consultation Summary (note the mentions of community leagues!)
• And here is the Winter Festivals & Events Guide

Civic Engagement Strategy On The Agenda For Next General Meeting

Elaine Solez (EFCL planner), Councillor Ben Henderson,
David Gibbens (EFCL past president),
Christine Bremner (director), David Dodge (director)
 and Linda Crosby (EFCL staff) at Leagues Alive.

The EFCL has decided to use a key portion of the Feb. 4 general meeting to discuss the civic engagement practices of the federation and its member leagues.  This would include methods the EFCL uses to gather input from the leagues and how this is subsequently presented to the City of Edmonton or other orders of government.  It will also include methods leagues use to gather input from their members, before taking a position on a particular matter.  Examples of relevant issues would include zoning changes, social housing policies, traffic safety and crime prevention, to name four.

The general meeting will be held in Boyle Street Community League’s new hall at 96 Street and 103 A Avenue downtown. 

The idea of the Civic Engagement strategic planning process is quite simply to find new ways for people in community leagues and the leagues and EFCL to engage members and citizens in new and innovative engagement that gets communities a say in the issues that affect our neighbourhoods and in turn have more of an impact on building a better city. Lofty goals yes, but if we have more of a say, then we will accept more responsibility and we will tackle difficult issues and help build a better city. 

This month the Civic Engagement Committee met with Simon Fairbrother the City Manager, Linda Cochrane the General Manager of Community Services and Gary Klassen, General Manager of Sustainable Development (and planning) with City of Edmonton. These are baby steps. At this meeting we shared our  desire to work with the city to have more of a say and help find better solutions to some of our most vexing issues ranging from bike lanes to infill and other issues.

Abundant Communities Pilot Project Grows

Howard Lawrence presenting the Abundant
Communities Initiative at Leagues Alive.

The third big deal is the Abundant Communities Initiative. I also hosted a session by Howard Lawrence and Anne Harvey (CRC) on this amazing initiative that begins by simply engaging deeply with members of the neighbourhood to ask the question what are you involved in, what would you like to be involved in and what gifts you have to share.

The  Abundant Community Initiative, which has been piloted in the Highlands neighborhood this past year, is coming to Oliver, Bannerman and one other, soon-to-selected neighborhood in 2014.

The program is based on the selection of community connectors, usually one per block, who interview people in their area to get a sense of the activities and neighhborhood improvements they would like to see take place.

The progam director then connects people with like interests together, as well as connecting them with the local community league.  The objective is to help people make friends and get involved in activities with their neighbors, which is exactly what community leagues are all about.

John McKnight, a well-known neighborhood activist who helped started the Abundant Community initiative in the United States, is scheduled to give a talk on the movement at the Santa Maria Goretti Centre at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3. I will be attending.

More Highlights From the November Board Meeting

Good Turnout For League’s Alive

Mayor Don Iveson at the Leagues Alive Conference.

The EFCL wants to thank all of the league reps who braved the winter storm and attended the League’s Alive Board Development Conference at Grant MacEwan University on Nov. 30.  Despite dangerous road conditions, close to 100 members from 57 leagues attended 17 board development the sessions.  LaPerle Community League, with five delegates, took home the $500 popcorn maker for best attendance from a community league.

Delegates also had an opportunity to mix and mingle over lunch with Edmonton’s new mayor, Don Iveson, and councillors Scott McKeen, Ben Henderson, Andrew Knack and Mike Nickel.

Early reports suggest that delegates quite enjoyed the day and found the development sessions most helpful.  A more comprehensive evaluation will be done over the next couple of weeks, in preparation for next year’s event.

EFCL To Make Another Pitch For Green Shack Funding

The  Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues has decided to make another pitch to the provincial government for funding for the city’s Green Shack program, where children from over 100 community leagues are provided with meaningful day camp experiences over the summer months.

Last year the province eliminated funding for the Summer Temporary Employment Program, which many community leagues were using to help pay for a summer camp leader.  The government subsequently provided $150,000 to help ensure that camps continued in high needs parts of the city.  It has made no commitment for 2014.

In addition, the EFCL will be asking Edmonton City Council to approve a request from the Community Services Department for $275,000 in Green Shack funding in 2014.  This money will help bring the program to more neighborhoods.

EFCL Meets with Members of City Council.

Councillor Scott McKeen at Leagues Alive. 

The EFCL has decided to hold a series of one-on-one meetings with members of Edmonton City Council, to pitch our 2014 budget request and to help develop a positive working relationship.

The EFCL has two financial requests before council.  One is for $40,000, to help cover the cost of preparing the federation’s 2014-2018 business plan.  A key part of this plan will be to examine the civic engagement practises of the federation and its member leagues.

The second request is for $600,000, to help cover the cost of the federation’s 100^th Anniversary Project in Hawrelak Park.  The EFCL intends to ask both the provincial and federal governments for a similar donation, as soon as the city is on board.

EFCL Assembles League Input on Surplus School Sites

The EFCL has collected a good deal of input from its members on the redevelopment of surplus school sites and will be communicating their concerns and suggestions to the City of Edmonton shortly.  The key points include: 

• Finding ways to gather the views of all residents of the community, such as a survey sent to each household. The survey would follow public meetings and would include pros and cons of various options.
• Ensuring community input is sought at all points along the way, including the league’s advice on time, place and format of meetings with the league and community at large.
• Assisting leagues with getting information to community residents and providing a fair, one-person-one-vote process for determining the will of the community before requesting the league motion to consider re-siting the development.
• The possibility of considering more than one alternative location (currently only one alternate site can be considered, which may be divisive in communities).
• Giving appropriate consideration to housing type and to community benefits such as a coffee shop, day care and/or meeting room in the development.
• Finding ways to improve trust between the City and communities on surplus school sites—some communities are still of the view that their site has been declared surplus to park needs.
• As a separate process led by Community Services, the City should offer to work with leagues to identify park impacts and how to address them, including ensuring appropriate transitions between the housing development and the park, appropriate park amenities for new residents, e.g., a seniors complex would likely need accessible walkways and benches with arms. This process should take place as soon as the site and housing type are determined.
• The City has committed to considering the EFCL feedback in finalizing the engagement process that will be piloted with a few surplus school sites in 2014.  Hairsine Community League has already volunteered to be included in the pilot consultation exercise.

New Community League Forming in The Hamptons

The EFCL is pleased to report that a new community league is forming in The Hamptons, a neighborhood in the far west end of the city.

An organizational meeting has been called for Nov. 27, where a group of residents hopes to have the league’s bylaws adopted and an executive elected.

Residents in The Hamptons have been working on the creation of a community league in their area for the past 18 months.  One of the key challenges has been to work out a relationship with the Glastonbury Homeowners Association.  The homeowner association represents residents living in Glastonbury, which is immediately to the north, and in The Hamptons.  To date the association has dealt exclusively with Glastonbury Community League, which has been in business for seven or eight years.

Creation of a new league in The Hamptons will bring the EFCL’s membership to 157, which is an increase of eight leagues in the past six years.

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions please contact me anytime at districtb(at)efcl.org

David Dodge,

Londonderry District B Director

Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues

Back in the saddle at the EFCL Board as your Londonderry District B Rep

Hello it's been a while since I've written a blog report on what's happening at the EFCL. As many of you I made my first foray into politics running for Ward 3 in the civic election. I stepped down as president of the EFCL to do that and I took a short leave as your district representative.

I must say running for office is one of the best community education programs you can enroll in! We knocked on 9,000 doors in our end of town and today I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have a much clearer idea of where I live in our great city and who I share our community with. I also must say running for office is the biggest, most intense volunteer project you will ever take on and I am deeply grateful for the 100-150 volunteers who helped my campaign. If you curious about the results check out the city's website. We garnered 6,063 votes, but it was still 500 votes shy of enough.

My congratulations to Dave Loken for winning a second term and to Hakin Isse and Rob Bernshaw for their campaigns in Ward 3

The election is over, now back to
work on community issues.

The best part about running for office, especially for a compulsive community volunteer such as myself, is it represents a fantastic opportunity to make new contacts in cultural, arts, union, business, political and many more communities. I feel like I have a much better idea of who we are as Canadians in our community of communities.

If you are curious what our campaign looked like check out our website at daviddodge.ca and our Facebook page.

My congratulations also go out to the incumbents and new city councillors Scott McKeen, Andrew Knack, Michael Walters, Bev Esslinger, Michael Oshry and Mike Nickel. 

Andrew, Bev and Michael have served recently on community league boards with Andrew and Bev having served as presidents. This is quite a different council from a community perspective. I look forward to four years of excellent collaboration with th City of Edmonton and City Council.

EFCL DISTRICT B NEWS:

Leagues Alive - Nov. 16 register now!

David Dodge and David Gibbens
with now former councillor Kim
Krushell at Leagues Alive 2012.

Don't missing this wonderful opportunity to network and learn at the Leagues Alive Conference on November 16, 2013. See EFCL Leagues Alive webpage.

Here is a list of all of the sessions. Check out a detailed list of sessions in this PDF. As of today there is still room in many of the sessions. There is also a chance to have lunch with your favourite city councillor as well. Don't miss this awesome event.

8:45 AM	For the Love of Winter
8:45 AM	Managing Your Assets
8:45 AM	Role of the President
8:45 AM	Role of the Treasurer
8:45 AM	Understand and Utilize Your Website and Social Media
8:45 AM	Working With the City 1
10:30 AM	AGLC Use of Proceeds
10:30 AM	Board Structure for Smooth Sailing
10:30 AM	Role of the Secretary
10:30 AM	Social Events and Recreational Programs
10:30 AM	Take a Tour!
10:30 AM	The Abundant Community
1:00 PM	Boosting Board Productivity
1:00 PM	Communications, Newsletters, E-News and Facebook
1:00 PM	Conflict Conundrums Detangled!
1:00 PM	Fundraising and Grant Writing
1:00 PM	Park Redevelopment
1:00 PM	Working With The City 2

EFCL RGM HIghlights

The RGM was on Oct. 29 You can still get the RGM meeting package (PDF) here!

If you missed the EFCL regular general meeting there are some big changes occurring at the EFCL and news about projects too.

Staff Changes

• The EFCL is pleased to announce that Elaine Solez will be our community planning advisor for the next 11 months. She is filling in for Bev Zubot, who is joining her husband Bob on a sabbatical in Lyon, France;
• The EFCL is also pleased to welcome to its team Amanda Henry, who will be filling the position of Board Development Officer;
• Also Shahriyar Kahn, our Community Development Office is leaving the EFCL for a position with the City of Edmonton. 

EFCL Community Development Program

Shahriyar was working on some very good projects for the EFCL including these three:

New Neighbourhood Recreation Model

The city is proposing a new model for delivering sports and recreation programs at the neighbourhood level. The EFCL has met with the city about this, and obviously the community leagues are one of the biggest deliverer of programs at the neighbourhood level. It's not clear year how this will work and whether it will be better than the way it was run in the past. However, being the optimist I sense there may be a tremendous opportunity for community leagues to play new roles. We'll see.

Cultural Inclusion Program

The EFCL is working with the Bredin Institute to connect newcomers with community leagues. This follows on the success of the program we ran a few years ago. Most other levels of government agreed we made tremendous headway in connecting people in cultural and immigrant communities with community leagues when the EFCL was able to hire five part time cultural outreach workers from various communities. This idea was fantastic and it demonstrated very significant potential but has had no funding to hire workers since. My hope is this program will continue to evolve and grow because community leagues have enormous potential here.

Traffic Safety - Can an integrated approach help neighbourhoods slow cars down?

Time and time again when I was running for election I found roads in the communities where people have constant problems with drivers speeding down roads in the community. There are 1,400 collector roads in communities. With the help from the UofA a Traffic Safety Assessment Tool has been developed that would look at statistics to help determine problem areas. This is useful, but I also think new strategies are needed to address the problem where the statistics won't flag a concern, but local residents are experiencing problems. Some community people are actually taking matters into their own hands and putting signs on their own property. (read more in the RGM report).

When you think about these programs and the other reported in the RGM package there are many very positive initiatives underway that demonstrate a very significant potential for community leagues to play new and interesting roles in shaping our communities and our city.

EFCL 100 Anniversary Project News

Also at the general meeting members had an oppportunity to provide input on the 100th Anniversary project that seems to be proceeding nicely. Two concepts have been produced that emphasize different aspects of what we had hoped to do in this community league feature at Hawrelak Park. You can still provide input by filling out the EFCL 100th Anniversary Project Survey at the EFCL 100th Anniversary Project webpage.

EFCL May Board and Planning Committee Notes

Hi community leagues in the Londonderry District B of the EFCL (Lago Lindo, Kilkenny, McLeod, Evansdale, Northmount, Londonderry, Steele Heights, Balwin, Killarney, Delwood, Glengarry, Rosslyn, Belvedere community leagues in Edmonton)

Here is a report on both the EFCL Board Meeting and the meeting of the EFCL Planning Committee.

EFCL Looks at Adding Wind Turbine to Its Renewable Energy Arsenal

The EFCL board of directors has decided to investigate the possibility of installing a wind turbine on the roof of its office building (7103-105 Street).  The board made the decision after reviewing an energy audit that suggested a turbine could be an effective way to reduce the federation’s energy bills and carbon footprint.

According to audit, a wind turbine would cost approximately $29,700 to install and would produce approximately $1,110 in electricity each year, at today’s prices.  This equates to a annual saving of 4.8 tonnes of cardon dioxide (greenhouse gas) if this electricity was produced by traditional methods (coal and natural gas).

The federation will investigate potential cost sharing opportunities, including the Taking Action to Manage Energy (TAME) program offered by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre.

The board’s decision comes only days after the federation successfully installed a 1.2 kw, five panel solar energy system on the roof of its office building.  Development of the solar energy system, which comes complete with an energy production display monitor in the lobby of the office building, was done as part of the federation’s solar and energy conservation program.  This program saw the completion of energy audits and installation of solar energy systems at seven community league halls (Ritchie, Riverdale, Rossdale, Meadowlark, Alberta Avenue, West Jasper/Sherwood and North Glenora) this spring.

Final Tripartite License Agreement Signed

The EFCL is pleased to report that all of the community leagues with land have now signed a tripartite license agreement.

The last signatory, Glengarry Community League, put pen to paper in a private meeting with EFCL president David Dodge last week.  A key precondition for Glengarry was the development of an addendum that outlines the steps the EFCL will take if it is ever needs to assume control of the league’s facilities, as outlined in the terms of the license agreement.  This addendum is now attached to the document signed by Glengarry, the EFCL and City of Edmonton.

Completion of the new agreement is a major milestone for all parties.  It provides clarity on how the land the city provides to each league is to be used and how disputes are to be resolved.  It also clarifies the supporting role that will be played by the EFCL.

Negotation of this agreement was also accompanied by the creation of a significant city grant program to help leagues build and repair their facilities.  Called the Community League Infrastructure Grant Program (CLIP), it makes $3 million available each year for everything from painting a room to building a new hall.

Edmonton Northlands Wants to Connect With Community Leagues

The EFCL is quite excited about a partnership opportunity that is starting to take shape with Edmonton Northlands.

Northlands would like to see greater community involvement in its operations, notably the annual K-Days Parade and K-Days Exposition during the summer.  They would love to see leagues sponsor one or more parade entries and are exploring the idea of a community night at the fair grounds, when league members could get in for a reduced rate and community leagues could jointly operate an exhibit or game (like our football toss) as a way to raise our profile and earn some money for the leagues.

Both of these ideas seemed to have good potential, particularly if the EFCL and Northlands were able to help facilitate the development of parade entries and a booth at the fair, to make it easy for leagues to participate.

Edmonton Northlands has been invited to make a presentation on this topic at the May 29 Annual General Meeting of the EFCL.  It is our intention to invite league reps to sit on a committee to flesh out ideas and opportunities for 2014.

If this partnership is put into place, Northlands would become one of the EFCL’s corporate sponsors and would be identified in our advertising and at all of our events.

Parking and School Construction on the Agenda:

EFCL to Meet with Edmonton Public School Board

The EFCL has invited the trustees and senior staff of the Edmonton Public School Board to a dinner meeting on May 15 to discuss some key issues of mutual concern.  These include the plan for new schools in growing parts of the city, retention of older schools in mature parts of the city and the provision of adequate parking and drop off areas around all schools.

The federation is keenly aware of the role a school plays in bringing people together in a community and wants to see as many new buildings constructed and older buildings maintained as possible.  It also wants to ensure community usage of all school facilites.

Recent trends among parents to drive their children to school has lead to an array of parking and drop off issues in the immediate area of the school.  In some cases this has affected the local community league, when parents utilize the league’s parking lot before and after school each day.

EFCL’s 100^th  Anniversary Project Rolls Along

The EFCL continues to make good progress on its 100^th Anniversary Project, which is earmarked for the southeast corner of Hawrelak Park.

On April 24, the federation took part in an open house that the City of Edmonton organized to show the public all of the changes that are planned for the park. These included the city’s plan to construct a water play feature between the playground and our project, as well as deepen one end of the main lake this summer to enable swimming during triathlon events.

Most of the visitor’s attention – and that of the media in attendance - was focused on the city’s water play project.  The city’s consultant had two concepts on display (see attached drawings).  The first drawing showed an extensive wading pool, complete with a central island, surrounded by a large sand beach area.  New washrooms would also be included.  This concept was expected to cost approximately $4.4 million and would utilize almost the entire grassy space between the playground and the east end of our project (that starts with a small pond).  Additional features not included in the budget were a spray deck ($653,000), Parking Lot Expansion ($472,000) Walkway to the Parking Lot ($197,000) and Walkway to the EFCL Project ($18,000).

City proposal Concept 1 Beach Play - the EFCL project
connects with the bottom left of the concept.

The second drawing showed a much smaller, concrete or rubber surface wading pool as well as a spray deck.  This development was pegged at $2.1 million, which represents the funds that the city already has in place for this project.  Additional features not included in the budget were Washrooms ($803,000), a Beach/Sand Area ($78,000), Parking Lot Expansion ($472,000), Walkway to the Parking Lot ($197,000) Walkway to the EFCL Project ($25,000).

City proposal Concept 2 Water Play - the EFCL project 
connects with the bottom left of the concept.

We prepared a display that showed the conceptual plan for the Community League Plaza, which will house a display on community leagues, and a walkway by the existing stream, which will connect the city’s water play feature to the main lake in Hawrelak Park.

Most of the 35 people who attended the open house were in favor of our project and appreciated the fact that we were doing something to recognize the contribution that community leagues have made to the City of Edmonton.  It was also evident that Hawrelak Park is heavily used by many groups, as some people felt it didn’t need any further development at all.

The two water play features, along with a summary of the public feedback, will be presented to city council’s community services committee on June 11.  The committee will recommend one of the concepts to City Council for approval.

In addition to this work, the federation has hired Marius Veldtman, a consultant we worked with on our infrastructure assessment program, to oversee the development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for project management and design work on our 100^th Anniversary Project.

Marius has located six Edmonton firms that are interested in submitting a proposal.  He is now preparing the bid documents and should have them ready to send out later this month.

Our anniversary committee has expressed an interest in reviewing the responses, as well as interviewing the company representatives.  Once this process has been completed, it is our intention to compare the RFP results to the city’s offer for project management services before determining the best route to follow.

In addition, the EFCL is reviewing the potential of developing a Cultural Heritage Walk on the pathway next to the stream.  The walkway would feature displays that show the contributions individuals and groups from different cultural backgrounds have made to the City of Edmonton and as such, attract visitors to this part of the park. This component has the potential to bring a number of other partners to the table, to help fund the overall project and increase its appeal to all three orders of government.

The EFCL could also use this opportunity to describe what it is doing to reach out to people from different cultural backgrounds.

EFCL Wants In On Elevate Task Force

The EFCL Board of Directors made it clear that they want to see a role for the federation in the revitalization of older neighborhoods, which is the job of a task force trying to implement recommendations contained in the city’s Elevate Report.

Board members were pleased to hear that all three levels of government, along with the local school boards, are members of the task force.  One of the primary recommendations of the report was to bring all of the key parties at the table.  The EFCL was also pleased to hear that the city has appointed a staff person, Jack Araujo, to work on this project.

The board was concerned to hear that the task force has yet to identify any projects or programs, other than to begin by comparing the capital budget plans of each organizations.

The board made it clear that they want to be involved in the development and implementation of a variety of projects and programs, including those that attract and retain families in these parts of the city.  The loss of families is a huge concern to the federation, given the substantial investment many leagues have made in local infrastructure (playgrounds, courts, halls and rinks) and the manner in which families with children help bring the community together.

Ms. Araujo, who provided a status report on the project at last week’s board meeting, said she would do what she could to ensure that the federation is represented in some fashion.

Traffic Safety Partners Discuss Speed Management Continuum

The Traffic Safety Partners committee, which includes city staff, police, school board and EFCL reps, has given its blessing to a newly-created method of analyzing and responding to neighborhood traffic concerns.  It is called the Neighbourhood Speed Management Continuum and it looks at traffic speeds, traffic shortcutting and number of collisions, along with the location of playgrounds, schools and recreation centres.

The continuum will help the city determine the most appropriate response to local speeding problems, including engineering measures and speed reduction campaigns like the 40 km hour speed limit program.

Senior-Friendly Community League Promoted

The EFCL is working with the Seniors Coordinating Council of Edmonton to determine ways in which community leagues can do a good job of reaching out and engaging seniors.

Our plan is to hold one or more workshops where representatives of leagues and various senior organizations review various initiatives that leagues could consider.  This could include having a senior’s liaison officer on the board, giving special consideration to the needs of seniors at league events and ensuring that league facilities are accessible to people with mobility issues.

Information gathered at the workshop would be tabulated and presented in newsletter articles, on websites and in the community league resource guide, to name three.  Workshop participants would also brainstorm ways to develop and promote activities that are of  interest to seniors.

Leagues interested in this initiative are encouraged to contact the EFCL’s community development officer, Shahriyar Khan.

EFCL Prepares For 2013 Annual General Meeting

Preparations are well along for the federation’s 2013 Annual General Meeting, which is set for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 29 at Duggan Community League (3728-106 Street).  This year’s meeting will feature presentations on the federation’s Solar and Energy Conservation Program, the 100^th Anniversary Project and the new bar code system on community league membership cards.  Quick updates will also be provided on Leagues Alive 2013, the Balconies in Bloom program, the Living Local Arts and Heritage Program, our Civic Engagement Review and our new partnership with Edmonton Northlands.

The federation will also be seeking new board members in the west end, as well as planning committee members in the west end and Castle Downs area.

Community league delegates are urged to contact Joanne Booth at the EFCL, particularly if they are coming for dinner, which commences at 5:30 p.m.

Vitalize Conference Looks Good This Year

A number of board and staff members at the EFCL are making plans to attend the provincial Vitalize Conference, which is set for June 13-15 at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.  The conference is built around the following seven themes: board governance, communication, human resources, leadership, organizational development, technology and general interest.  This conference is a great opportunity for leagues to provide their volunteers with training and a chance to network.

The continuum and its use in promoting traffic safety will soon be presented to city council for its consideration.

EFCL Planning News

Light Efficient Community Policy Complete

The EFCL, along with the Light Efficient Community Coalition, played a major role in getting the city to consider developing a policy to reduce light pollution and energy consumption, while enhancing safety on city streets and city property.

EFCL Vice President David Gibbens and planning advisor Bev Zubot represented EFCL on the advisory committee throughout the policy and information document, working alongside very knowledgeable city engineers, consultants, coalition members and city department staff.  In addition to creating a progressive policy, this project forged positive working relationships and a pool of experts that we can turn to when communities raise street lighting or park lighting concerns.  

EFCL Prompts the City to Review Bylaws for Eating and Drinking Establishments.

The EFCL Planning Committee and Central Area Council encouraged Executive Committee of Council to support the Administration’s recommendation to review the relevant Zoning Bylaw and the business license bylaw.  We are hoping that the amendments will prevent the morphing of restaurants into late night bars, and will properly evaluate parking requirements.

        

Body Rub Centre Bylaw remains an important issue for the EFCL Planning Committee.

Our committee strongly believes that Body Rub Centres should be more than 100 m away from community halls, schools and other locations where children or vulnerable people congregate.   It plans to prepare background information and a survey that will be distributed to leagues by email and at the AGM, May 29^th.   Bylaw amendments will be considered by Council on June 10^th.  

EFCL Gains Insights at Building Edmonton Symposium

Hosted by the City & the Urban Development Institute, the symposium featured a number of developers and city planning staff in panel discussions, along with EFCL executive director Allan Bolstad

Mayor Mandel, who gave the opening speech, sees Council as the promoters of development.  He said it has only turned down two projects during his time on council.  He said community leagues, not Council, are the problem, when it comes to moving the city forward.  He said leagues oppose affordable housing in the inner city, oppose seniors and don’t want their complexes on surplus school sites.  He said they are also opposed to too much traffic for no good reason.

In the panel discussions, developers such as Jodie Wacko emphasized the importance of flexibility – all policy documents should be a living document so that the rules can be changed on the fly in response to customer demands.  Allan Bolstad said leagues are interested in stability – that the city should develop policies and regulations and stick to them so people know the rules and can depend on them. 

Tegan Martin-Drysdale of Redbrick Real Estate Services asked why the EFCL and its leagues were so involved in civic and planning issues.  She noted that the EFCL and its leagues do not represent everyone in the neighbourhood.  Allan acknowledged that the leagues only represent their members, but that the city often relies on them for public input.  He noted that the EFCL and its leagues have some binding agreements with the city, relative to consultation, and that leagues have been involved in civic engagement since their inception in 1917.

EFCL considers Active Role with Bike Routes

Given the level of discontent with the city’s planned bike network, the EFCL has decided to explore how it could assist in the development of welcomed, safe bike routes and bike infrastructure in neighbourhoods.   Four potential roles for EFCL have been identified through a meeting with Transportation staff and Great Neighbourhoods.  

a)     Assistance with social marketing of bike infrastructure – promoting safety, community building, benefits of cycling (predominantly a city role)

b)     Discussion of safe bike route designs at the Transportation Safety Partnership Committee meetings (EFCL staff Allan Bolstad and Shahriyar Kahn are members of this committee)

c)     A review of Public Involvement Plans for bike routes

d)    A bike route design workshop with leagues, in the fall, sponsored by the City and the EFCL.